TenneT has announced agreements with two General Electric (GE)-led consortia, as well as a collaboration with Hitachi Energy and Petrofac on 11 transmission projects.
The projects form part of a programme to connect 22GW of clean energy in the Netherlands and Germany.
The contracts were doled out as part of TenneT’s 2GW programme, which will see the 11 projects connect 2GW of renewable capacity via a new standardised platform and certified cable system with a higher transmission capacity.
Awarded contracts
Hitachi Energy and Petrofac were awarded five Dutch projects that will be connected in Borssele (IJmuiden Ver Alpha, Nederwiek 1), Eemshaven (Doordewind 1 and Doordewind 2) and Geertruidenberg or Moerdijk (Nederwiek 3). This partnership will also realise the German connection LanWin5 that will be connected in Rastede.
The first contract under their framework, for the Ijmuiden Ver Alpha project, was awarded with immediate effect. The second, Nederwiek 1, is expected to be awarded later in the year. Projects Doordewind 1, Doordewind 2, Nederwiek 3 and LanWin5 are expected to be awarded over a 2024-2026 timeframe.
Hitachi Energy and Petrofac’s contracts total approximately €13 billion ($14.1 billion).
In consortium with Sembcorp Marine, General Electric (GE) Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions business was awarded three contracts to the tune of €6 billion ($6.5 billion) to be connected in Maasvlakte, Rotterdam (IJmuiden Ver Beta, IJmuiden Ver Gamma and Nederwiek 2) in the Netherlands.
The IJmuiden Ver projects will be located about 62km off the coast of the Netherlands, their contracts to come into effect immediately, while the Nederwiek project will be located 95km off the coast, coming into effect in 2024.
The second consortium sees GE join McDermott on two contracts in Germany for €4 billion ($4.3 billion) – the BalWin4 and LanWin1 projects that will be connected in Unterweser, located approximately 160km off the coast of Germany and will connect in Unterweser. Both contracts are expected to come into effect in April 2023.
According to TenneT, the awarded suppliers will start preparatory work for the realisation of the projects with immediate effect to ensure that all projects can be delivered by 2031.
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Project scope
Each of the connection systems has a capacity of 2GW and a voltage level of 525kV – a world-first for offshore wind.
TenneT’s agreement with Hitachi Energy includes an initial commitment to deploy six renewable integration systems, five of which will connect offshore wind farms to the Dutch grid and the sixth to the German grid.
The landmark framework agreement is the largest ever, both for Hitachi Energy and Petrofac.
Hitachi Energy will supply its HVDC Light converter stations, which convert AC to DC power offshore and DC to AC onshore. Petrofac will undertake the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) of the offshore platforms and elements of the onshore converter stations.
Regarding GE’s two consortia, GE Grid Solutions will be responsible for EPCI of the 2GW bipolar HVDC converter stations for all projects.
GE Grid Solutions’ Stafford facility in the West Midlands, UK, will manufacture the primary HVDC sub-systems and equipment, while its facility in Berlin, Germany, will lead overall project management.
GE’s consortium partner Sembcorp Marine, a Singapore-based global marine and offshore engineering group, will design, build, install and commission the offshore platforms, which will host the GE converter systems and equipment for the three Dutch transmission projects.
McDermott of the US, a global provider of engineering and construction solutions, will design, fabricate, install and commission the offshore converter substation platforms for the two German 2GW HVDC grid connection systems.
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Connecting 40GW offshore
The total five contracts for the GE consortia are among 11GW contracts awarded to HVDC suppliers by Tennet as part of its goal to connect 40GW of offshore wind farms to the high voltage grids in the Netherlands and Germany.
TenneT’s large-scale project resulted from the Esbjerg Declaration in May 2022 at the North Sea Energy Summit, where Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium agreed to jointly install at least 65GW of offshore wind energy by 2030 – up from 20GW today – to accelerate Europe’s energy security following recent geopolitical developments.
TenneT plans to install 20GW each in the Dutch and German North Sea.
Tim Meyerjürgens, TenneT COO, said: “We are delighted to be working with GE and their consortium partners as part of our task to connect 40GW offshore wind in the North Sea, one of the most important infrastructure projects of the century.
“TenneT has the technical know-how, scale and geographical position to connect wind energy from the North Sea, while GE and its consortium partners have the HVDC expertise.
“Together, with the GE consortia and other HVDC partners we will accelerate the development of the offshore grid, thereby strengthening Europe’s energy security and putting Europe on track to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050.”
